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Scorecard at the BMW International Open
Stenson was among the late starters who had to endure a persistent rain that made for higher scoring in the afternoon, but the Swede still managed seven birdies and an eagle to go with a lone bogey.
"I don't have much to complain about," Stenson said. "I think the course played a shot tougher this afternoon, but if you are playing good, then you can still hit a good number."
Gary Boyd of England was second after setting the early clubhouse lead with a 65, despite a bogey on the last hole. Four players were tied for third, a further stroke back.
Stenson eagled the par-5 sixth hole to reach the turn in 5-under. He nearly eagled the 18th as well but missed a four-foot putt and had to settle for a birdie.
"It would have been nice to make that, it would have been even sweeter," said Stenson, who also chipped in for a birdie at the 14th. "I just misjudged it. I tried to go left of center and I didn't think it would break to the left, but it did. I probably pulled it a bit too."
Paul Lawrie was among the quartet to shoot 66, also helped by an eagle on the sixth. He joined Jbe Kruger, Tim Sluiter and Danny Willett two strokes behind the leader.
Colin Montgomerie celebrated his 48th birthday with a 2-under 70, but wasn't happy about the weather. On the 14th, he was forced to drop his ball out of a puddle in a bunker.
"I'm getting to that stage where I should be spending birthday days on a beach in the Bahamas, and not having to be drenched out here," the Scot said. "This was a horrific day."
Leading first-round scores from the BMW International Open at the par-72 course on Thursday: (GBR and IRL unless otherwise stated)
64 - Henrik Stenson (SWE)
65 - Gary Boyd
66 - Paul Lawrie, Jbe Kruger (RSA), Tim Sluiter (NED), Danny Willett
67 - Lee Slattery, Markus Brier (AUT), George Coetzee (RSA)
68 - Felipe Aguilar (CHI), Retief Goosen (RSA), Romain Wattel (FRA), Mark Foster, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP)
69 - Steve Lewton, Liam Bond, Sergio Garcia (ESP), Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (ESP), Peter Lawrie, Scott Jamieson, Anthony Wall, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA), Hennie Otto (RSA), George Murray, David Howell, Marcel Siem (GER), Ben Parker, Simon Khan, David Drysdale, Stephan Gross Jnr (GER), David Dixon
70 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Robert Dinwiddie, Joost Luiten (NED), Matteo Manassero (ITA), Martin Kaymer (GER), Simon Wakefield, Graeme Storm, Thomas Norret (DEN), Bradley Dredge, Sebi Garcia (ESP), Richard Bland, Martin Wiegele (AUT), Richie Ramsay, Christian Nilsson (SWE), Shiv Kapur (IND), Colin Montgomerie, David Horsey, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Dustin Johnson (USA), Dennis Kupper (GER), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Richard Finch, Andreas Harto (DEN)
Selected:
71 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Wade Ormsby (AUS), Matthew Zions (AUS), Richard Green (AUS)
72 - Jaco Van Zyl (RSA), Mu Hu (CHN), Paul Casey
73 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Scott Strange (AUS), Andrew Dodt (AUS), Jason Knutzon (USA), Keith Horne (RSA)
74 - Daniel Gaunt (AUS), Shaun Norris (RSA), Jin Jeong (KOR), Anthony Kang (USA)
76 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Bernhard Langer (GER), James Kingston (RSA), Wen-chong Liang (CHN), Mark Brown (NZL)
77 - Michael Campbell (NZL)
